Attitudes toward Tax Evasion in the Middle East: A Comparative Study of Egypt, Iran and Jordan

Abstract

Using data that was gathered as part of a much larger study on human beliefs and values, the present study examines the opinions on the ethics of tax evasion that were gathered from a wide demographic of respondents in Egypt, Iran and Jordan. Comparisons are made between the responses from each country. Comparisons are also made by gender, age and level of education in an attempt to determine whether these factors have any effect on ethical attitudes. Because comparisons are made by gender, age and level of education, the results of this study have implications that go far beyond the borders of Egypt, Iran and Jordan, since similar relationships probably exist between tax evasion opinions and these three demographics. The present study also tests the findings of some prior studies that have examined the relationship between gender, age and education level and attitudes toward tax evasion to determine whether the views held by the people in these three Middle Eastern countries are similar to or different from the views held by people in other countries. The present study has a sample size of 6642.

Keywords: tax evasion, ethics, Middle East, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, gender, age, education, human beliefs and values

JEL Classification: E62, H26, J16, J14, J1, K34, M4, O53